Maryland School District Removes Parental Right to Opt-Out of Certain Curriculum, Makes LGBTQ-Themed Books Required Reading

The Montgomery County School District in Maryland has removed parents’ rights to opt their children out of certain parts of the curriculum and has made LGBTQ-themed books required reading.

The district has made multiple controversial books mandatory reading for its English language arts curriculum as part of an “LGBTQ-inclusive reading list.”

“MCPS keeps painting these books as rainbow unicorn which they are not,” Moms for Liberty Montgomery chapter president Lindsey Smith told Fox News.

Smith said her three-year-old was assigned a book called “Pride Puppy” and an ABC book with images of drag queens under “Q for Queen.”

The report explains, “while several parents requested a policy to opt out of these books, a recently updated policy by the school board insisted that students will be required to ‘engage’ with these materials. In addition, parents will no longer be required to be informed on which books will be included on the lists.”

“Students and families may not choose to opt out of engaging with any instructional materials, other than ‘Family Life and Human Sexuality Unit of Instruction’ which is specifically permitted by Maryland law. As such, teachers will not send home letters to inform families when inclusive books are read in the future,” MCPS’ policy reads.

It’s not just conservatives who oppose the required materials.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Montgomery County Muslim Council also oppose the district’s decision.

“We’re trying to be respectful of these groups and their rights, but at the same time, we’re saying our rights need to be represented based off of our belief systems,” Montgomery County Muslim Council President Asif Husain told Fox News.

CAIR has launched a petition demanding parental notification of certain books and restoring the option to opt-out.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/maryland-school-district-removes-parental-right-to-opt-out-of-certain-curriculum-makes-lgbtq-themed-books-required-reading/

Blackstone Raises $30 Billion For "Largest Ever" Real Estate Drawdown Fund To Capitalize On Commercial Real Estate Crisis

Blackstone may have blocked investor redemptions from its REIT fund for the fourth month in a row, but that does not mean the CRE giant and world's largest commercial landlord is sitting on its hands as the CRE crisis goes from bad to worse.

On Tuesday, Blackstone announced it had raised $30.4 billion for its latest global real estate fund - the largest private equity drawdown fund ever raised - targeting opportunistic deals across sectors such as rental housing, hospitality and data centers as the private equity behemoth looks to double down on the industry. The fund, called Blackstone Real Estate Partners X, is 48% bigger than the asset management giant's previous real estate fund which closed in 2019, and is the largest of that type, according to PitchBook data going back to 2002.

Ken Caplan, Global Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate, said, "We believe the current market is tailor-made for Blackstone Real Estate. We have made some of our best investments in periods characterized by the market volatility and dislocation we see today. Furthermore, sector selection has never been more critical as we witness the bifurcation of performance within real estate, which is favoring our high-conviction themes." There was no mention of the ongoing redemption halt at the company's massive BREIT fund.

“Pullback with all forms of capital will create opportunities,” said Kathleen McCarthy, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate. “We can use our capital and expertise to capitalize on the moment for our investors.”

In other words, even as existing Blackstone investments are deeply underwater, the PE giant which now has $326 billion of investor capital under management - will seek to purchase distressed CRE assets during the coming downcycle, becoming even more entrenched and an even greater monopoly in the sector.

Blackstone - the largest owner of commercial real estate globally - has been focusing its portfolio on logistics, rental housing, hospitality, lab office and data centers, shifting away from assets like traditional office and malls that are facing headwinds from a post-pandemic adoption of flexible work and surge in e-commerce, Reuters reported.

As we have been reporting extensively, the commercial real estate market - especially the office and mall segments - have come under huge stress over the past year due to a pullback across commercial-property lending, as borrowing costs skyrocketed. At the same time, the stocks of public real estate investment trusts have also suffered amid the uncertainty in the market and increasing concerns about certain property types such as offices.

The firm started to raise money for the large property drawdown fund last year. Three of its strategies - global, Asia and Europe - now have a total of $50 billion in capital commitments, the firm said.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/blackstone-raises-30-billion-largest-ever-real-estate-drawdown-fund-capitalize-commercial

>>18680872

so they can steal your money when the market collapses - leave Joe average holding the bag